High school senior bakes her way to success and scholarships

Shea Gouldd, a senior at Spanish River High School in Boca Raton, runs a profitable… (Carline Jean, Sun Sentinel )

May 12, 2013|By Donna Gehrke-White, Sun Sentinel

She can whip out an elaborately decorated wedding cake as easily as a dozen cupcakes and has made selling both a money-making venture.

The owner of Shea's Bakery in Delray Beach also takes calculus, chemistry and plays the sax.

Meet Shea Gouldd, a Boca Raton high school senior by day who turns entrepreneur at night. The 18-year-old maintains a 4.7 GPA at Spanish River High School while also running a business and managing a full-time employee. Last week, Shea studied for hours for Advanced Placement tests in calculus, chemistry and literature and then met with clients after school to discuss their wedding cakes.

"Shea is very disciplined," says her mother Lesley Marlo, a freelance writer and editor who helps her daughter by taking phone orders and making deliveries.

Her daughter, Maslo said, concocted desserts while in grade school, and it quickly became a passion.

"I was baking for any excuse I could come up with," Gouldd said. "But it's an expensive habit.'

So she sold a brownie bottom cheesecake to a neighbor to earn just enough to buy more ingredients. Word of mouth quickly spread. "By Thanksgiving, I had over 30 orders," Gouldd said.

She was 14.

That's when she launched Shea's Bakery.

Friends let Gouldd use a kitchen inside an office building on Delray Beach's stretch of Federal Highway with the teenager providing catering for their occasional events. Last year, the building was sold, and Shea now pays rent.

Shea won't disclose profits, but last year she was able to hire her first full-time employee. Kate Townsend, a stay-at-home mom of two and baking aficionado, manages the business while Shea is in school.

Townsend said working for Gouldd gives her flexibility with her family, and she simply shrugs when asked how she feels about having a young boss.

Gouldd's business savvy also has helped her rake in scholarship dollars including a four-year tuition-paid scholarship to study business at Washington University in St. Louis worth more than $174,000.

"I'm super-excited – I really wanted to go there," she said. "I really want to stay focused on studying business." ( The dorms have a kitchen where she can bake, Gouldd's mom said.)

She also is the only Florida student to earn a finalist spot in Independent Business Young Entrepreneur Foundation's annual competition next month in Washington, D.C.

At stake: a $10,000 scholarship.

"We're extremely proud to have a student from Florida show us that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive,' said Bill Herrle, NFIB/Florida executive director.

He noted that Gouldd beat out an applicant pool of 500.

''Shea has already proven that she has the dreams and dedication to succeed, and we can't wait to see what the future brings for her and her business," Herrle said.